News Tag: unions

The government has announced changes to its pensions offer for NHS staff, which it claims are an improvement designed to protect low-paid employees, but which unions claim is a tax on middle-earners.
Last week up to two million public sector workers went on strike over the government’s plan to increase the amount they will have to pay towards their pensions.
Workers ...

Unions have vented their anger at directors today after a report found that the average annual bonus for a director in a FTSE 100 company has soared by 187% in the last decade.
The findings were in a report by the High Pay Commission and discovered that top executives received a bonus worth 90% last year compared with 48% of salary ...

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has warned that next year will be “difficult” as he delivered his new year speech.
However, Mr Cameron said Britain has a “really bright future to look forward to" and defended his Government’s spending cuts as tough but necessary, in order to trim the budget deficit.
The cuts have received mixed responses; many have been critical of ...

Job losses resulting from the Government’s spending cuts is expected to bring widespread industrial action next year, unions have suggested.
In his New Year message, Brendan Barber, the TUC’s general secretary, claimed 2011 would be a "horrible" year of cuts and will also be tough for the Government.
Unemployment will undoubtedly rise, said the union.
Meanwhile, Mark Serwotka, union leader of the ...

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has today announced it will reduce headcount by 4,500 in its IT division - a move which has angered unions.
The banking giant, which is 43% owned by the taxpayer, has now axed 20,000 jobs since the start of 2009, some of which were due to overlap following the bank’s takeover of HBOS.
The bank, which ...

London Underground (LU) has today announced it will axe a further 400 office and management jobs.
LU says it is reviewing all non-frontline services in a bid to cut costs.
The announcement comes after unions were enraged over the loss of 800 ticket office jobs, which has led to industrial action on the underground.
Two further strikes are planned for November over ...

The UK minimum wage will rise by 13p (2%) to £5.93 an hour today and is set to benefit almost one million people, according to the Low Pay Commission.
The 13p an hour rise applies to workers aged 21 and over.
Meanwhile, the rate for 18 to 20-year-olds will increase by 9p to £4.92, while 16 and 17-year-olds will see a ...

Credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded Spain's credit rating today - just a day after unions held a general strike to protest against tough austerity measures.
Like many other euro zone nations, Spain has introduced austerity measures, aimed at cutting its budget deficit, which is currently 11% of GDP.
Spain aims to reduce the deficit to 6% by 2011.
Moody’s has cut Spanish ...

Bank of England governor Mervyn King will today prepare himself for questions from union leaders over Government spending cuts.
Mr King becomes only the second governor in history to address the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the tough austerity measures introduced by the coalition Government are set to lead to industrial action following the ...

It has been announced that the tough austerity measures introduced by the coalition Government are set to lead to industrial action following a trade union gathering in Manchester today.
At the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) meeting, union leaders urged delegates to "stand up and fight" against the massive spending cuts.
The motion was supported by an overwhelming majority of ...

The tough austerity measures implemented by the Greek Government appear to be a success after the country’s Finance Minister, George Papaconstantinou, claimed the deficit has been trimmed by 42% this year and the country had “met its goal“.
According to figures from the central bank, the deficit was €11.5 billion in the first half of the year, down from €19 billion a ...

Greece's two main unions have called a fresh general strike for July 8 to protest against tough austerity measures, introduced by the Government to trim the country’s budget deficit.
Should the strike go ahead, it will be the country’s 6th since February.
However, some of the protests have been violent. Last week’s strike saw seven police officers injured. Two ...

Spain’s Government has passed the €15 billion (£13 billion) austerity plan, which has been implemented to deal with the country’s deficit, which is currently 11% of GDP.
Spain aims to reduce the deficit to 6% by 2011, which involves a 5% cut for civil servants.
Deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez De la Vega, acknowledged that approving the measures, which must still be ...

Asian shares have fallen sharply today as fears mount that Greece’s crisis would spread to other European countries.
In an interview with French newspaper, La Parisien, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, admitted earlier this week that the possible spread of the crisis was a concern.
He said: “We have to succeed in avoiding contagion… we ...

A deal designed to prevent Greece from defaulting on its massive debt has been agreed over the weekend.
It is also hoped the €110 billion (£95 billion) three-year rescue package will strengthen the single currency, which has been plummeting over recent months as a result of Greece’s debt crisis.
The EU will provide €80 billion with the rest coming from ...

Crisis-hit Greece has come to a standstill again today after workers staged the third general strike in as many weeks.
The further strike comes after austerity measures to rescue Greece’s debt-stricken economy angered Greek trade unions.
Greece is currently taking action to reduce its public deficit from 12% to 8% of GDP this year.
The country currently has the highest debt ...

Talks aimed at averting industrial action at British Airways (BA) have collapsed and failed to reach an agreement.
Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: "Despite a prolonged period of negotiations it has not been possible to reach agreement between BA and Unite."
Last month, BA‘s 12,000 cabin crew members voted to take industrial action over cost-cutting ...

Up to 270,000 civil servants are to stage a 48-hour national strike today in a dispute over redundancy pay.
The walkout involves job centre staff, tax workers, coastguards, border agency officials, courts staff and driving test examiners.
If a satisfactory outcome is not reached then further strike action could take place later this month, according to the Public and Commercial Services ...